North Sea H1 2017: back to business

After a turbulent couple of years, there is light at the end of the tunnel for the North Sea. 2017 will be an important year for getting back to business. In this insight, we review the first half of the year for the North Sea region – Norway, UK, Denmark and The Netherlands. Some of the highlights: M&A: A bumper US$9+ billion traded in H1. Who is creating the new North Sea corporate landscape? E&A: Activity picking up, but we think the best is yet to come. What are the wells to watch for in H2? Production: Seven field start-ups so far, with 500+ mmboe of reserves FIDs: US$3 billion sanctioned in Norway so far. Could we see US$20 billion more in H2? Costs: Are still dropping. Which project achieved 30% cost reduction through project optimisation? Decommissioning: UK activity ramped up with a record 10 decommissioning plans submitted in H1.